December 01, 2023
News

Thae Yong Ho assesses Kim Jong Un’s pursuit of nuclear weapons

Former diplomat speaks at first public event in the U.S. since 2016 defection

A former North Korean diplomat, Thae Yong Ho, outlined his assessment of why Kim Jong Un has been adamant in his pursuit of a nuclear-tipped inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), during a speech in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Thae - who defected to South Korea in mid-2016 from the North Korean Embassy in the UK - outlined four key reasons for what he called Kim’s "obsession" to develop such capabilities.